The 39-year-old actress stars as one-armed Imperator Furiosa in 'Mad Max: Fury Road' and has claimed the movie is unusual in that it features strong female lead characters.

She reflected: "I've always wanted to explore the genre a little bit more, especially because I think it's such a misconception that women don't like the genre, or that they don't want to go and see these movies.

"I just feel like women have been so misrepresented in these films - why do we have to go and see the genre every single time with the girl in the back of the frame in a push-up bra? Why isn't there a girl that's standing on the same playing field with the guys?"

The George Miller-directed movie also features Zoë Kravitz and Rosie Huntington-Whiteley, and Charlize has backed the film's female contingent to survive in a post-apocalyptic world.

She told 'Live! With Kelly and Michael': "We don't want to be guys, but in a post-apocalyptic world, we will survive! There's something really, really nice about playing this woman who is a woman, first of all, but is a rogue warrior just like Max, and can fight just as well as Max with one arm.

"I think all the women - there's a lot of women in this movie, like three different generations of women in this story, and I think they're represented really well. And they kick butt."

Reluctant hero Max (Hardy) is drawn into helping Imperator Furiosa (Theron, excellent), who's liberated a group of sexually enslaved women and is being pursued for her trouble by the grotesque Immortan Joe (Keays-Byrne). Precision-executed lunacy, a brilliantly feminist 'western on wheels' with a generous helping of heart.